The Aftermath
by detectivemran
Summary: Conan's problems are just starting after the incidents on the Bell Tree Tower. Irish is dead, Ran has questions and Gin might know about Ran. Everyone he sees is suspicious, especially when it comes to Ran's safety.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Happens after The Raven Chaser. Some part of the dialogue are taken directly from the movie translation.**

 **All mistakes are mine. Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Conan was mind numbingly tired. After running around in that tower, getting hit by a hulking man, getting almost hit by a bullet and jumping off a roof of the tallest building in Tokyo, amongst other things, he felt like someone had sucked all the energy out of him. Well, someone, being the Black Organization.

But before that, he had to go check on Ran. He hadn't expected her to show up and he certainly hadn't expected her to take on a member of Black Organization the way she did. She dodged a bullet. She freaking dodged a bullet. Would she ever stop surprising him?

But then, Irish's mask tore and Ran was taken aback. She hadn't expected that and it showed when she froze and got punched by him. Before that, she had the upper hand. He knew he had to get her out of the tower safely and only one person could possibly persuade her to back off. And so, he used Shinichi's voice.

He better get his excuse ready as to why Shinichi was not present when the police start questioning them for the details about the case. He walked towards the place where Ran and Sonoko were talking to Detective Sato and he could hear the tail end of the conversation where Detective Sato told Ran that she would talk to her about the details at a later time and was going to call for a ride to get her home. A part of him admitted that he felt a lot better when he could talk to Ran after a long, weary case and this one definitely was a weary case.

And when he saw Sonoko get up, he walked up to her and said, "Ran-neechan, Shinichi-niichan said that the case had been solved." Well, apparently, he had an excuse ready.

But when Ran spoke, "Come to think of it, Shinichi…" he scrambled to explain, "About that, he said that he had another case…"

Ran frowned as she said, "He left abruptly again?" He nodded and was about to say to her that Shinichi-niichan said to keep his involvement a secret, when Ran crossed her arms and said, "I'm sure he said something like 'Don't tell anyone I was involved.'"

He laughed sheepishly when he suddenly remembered; he had another thing to tell her, "He also said it was all right for you to call now."

When Ran turned to look at him with her brows furrowed and said in a part angry, part mocking tone, "'All right to call'"? He immediately rescinded his previous sentence and said, "Ah no… he might have said 'Please call.'"

Ran's face smoothed out and she smiled, "Well, just hearing his voice is enough, I guess," she looked outside the tower, now devoid of glasses, and continued, "Besides, voice aside, there are people who can only meet once a year," referring to the Tanabata festival.

"Ran-chan, your ride is here. You and Conan-kun can go home now," Detective Sato said from across the room and disappeared as swiftly as she had entered, busy talking to somebody on her phone.

Ran stood from her seat when Sonoko reached her with a soda in her hand. "Here, Ran, your drink."

"Thanks, Sonoko, Conan-kun and I are going home, do you want to come with us?" she asked. Sonoko just waved her hand, told her to not worry and that she had called home. A driver would be there any minute to pick her up.

They said their goodbyes and entered the empty elevator. As the doors closed, Ran turned towards Conan, "It was scary, wasn't it, Conan-kun? Good thing, Shinichi came to save us." Conan just nodded his head and hummed in agreement. He was about to fall asleep, all the adrenaline had washed away and Ran's hand was clutched around his tiny ones and everything was fine. He just wanted to sleep when Ran said, "When did the glasses break, though, Conan-kun? There was only that one man who looked like Superintendent Matsumoto. And then, Shinichi came in. Did you see anybody else? And where is that man? I didn't see him at all."

All thoughts of sleep flew from his head as he came to realize what Ran was asking and he wanted to hit himself.

Ran looked down to see Conan staring horrifyingly at the ground and immediately regretted asking him questions after going through that experience. Poor kid must have been scared out of his mind and she was making him remember all the scary memories. She crouched on the elevator floor and hugged his little body sideways, "I'm sorry, Conan-kun. You must have been so scared. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, okay?"

All Conan could hear was white noise. How could he have been so stupid? Ran wasn't blind. Of course, she would see those broken glasses and ask questions. Not to mention, she had scratches on her arm where the glasses had sliced her. Even if he had given her the excuse that Shinichi had intervened, how could he explain the substantial amount of evidence left behind that screamed that there were more than two people involved? Plus, the fact that the man she had almost defeated was killed? He was sure that Ran didn't know about it, primarily, because he had made sure to be with her after he had seen the helicopter burst and stayed with her until the paramedics had separated them to treat their injuries.

After that, the police had come in and they were busy giving their statements but he was positive that Ran didn't know that Irish had died. But that wouldn't stay secret for long, especially when they would come to ask for their statements in detail. The police were bound to ask Ran if she had seen somebody kill the man who looked like Superintendent Matsumoto. And that would open up another can of worms.

The elevator pinged when they reached the ground floor. Ran took his hand and they both entered the police car that was waiting. Conan walked in a daze, partially aware that he was now seated, when another nauseating thought hit him.

There was a possibility that Gin might have seen Ran. He knew that the possibility was miniscule, considering that Ran was lying face down on the floor but their reputation preceded them. The Organization didn't leave any stone unturned. And if, any one on that helicopter had seen that there were three bodies lying on the floor, they wouldn't waste any time in finding out the identities of these people. And if they found out about Ran…

His body shivered at the thought. He had already dreamt many times about Ran getting almost killed by Gin or Vodka. Almost because even his subconscious couldn't imagine Ran actually getting killed. He wasn't going to let those nightmares come true. At any cost.

* * *

 **A/N: That's it. I had a vague idea and I wrote about it. Review to let me know what you thought.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: The second chapter.**

 **All mistakes are mine. Hope you like it!**

* * *

 _The stairs were endless. He kept running, trying to avoid the bullets that were raining down from the rifle. He needed to get away from Ran. Under no circumstances was she going to get spotted by Gin._

 _The helicopter whirled around the tower, following him with deafening noise and broken glasses, when the firing suddenly stopped. He crouched behind a pillar, thankful for the respite. His legs were aching from running around, his lungs wheezing to take in as much air as he could, when the helicopter diverted from its path._

 _It was travelling down. Where Ran was._

 _Everything was silent for a few seconds as the helicopter descended down and Conan took his chance to climb down the stairs. There was no way he was leaving Ran alone like this. As soon as his foot touched the second step, the firing started again._

 _ **No, Ran!**_

 _The adrenaline boosted him as he dashed down the stairs. He found Ran unconscious. She was a little banged up from the glasses that had pierced her skin, but otherwise her breathing felt normal. He shook her shoulders, trying to wake her up, "Ran-neechan, Ran-neechan, wake up, Ran-neechan, we need to go."_

 _The firing had gotten louder. They were near and Conan was getting desperate. "Ran, wake up, Ran!" She finally opened her eyes, looking up to find Conan smiling at her in relief. "Conan-kun..."_

 _The loud sound of the glasses shattering quickly brought them to reality. They needed to go. Ran found it hard to focus with her head throbbing away but she stood up unsteadily. Conan took her hand, leading them away from the helicopter when he stopped dead in his tracks._

 _Gin was standing in front of him._

 _Ran pulled Conan behind her, not wanting him to get in harm's way, when suddenly a bullet whizzed through the air._

 _Conan stared in horror as Ran landed face down on the floor. Somebody had shot her from behind. He didn't even think to look for the culprit and rushed to her. There was blood coming out. There was blood coming out of her head._

 _Ran was dead. No, No, NO!_

 _ **RAN!**_

A scream broke through the relative silence of the Mouri household. Conan was covered in sweat, his heart beating at a rapid pace as he looked around. Gin was not there. He was not at the Bell Tree Tower. He could hear Kogoro's snoring. Ran would probably be okay too. Yeah, she would be okay. So much for not dreaming about Ran dying.

He smiled ruefully and snaked a hand through his slightly damp hair. These nightmares were getting out of hand. He settled in again, lying down on his mattress and closed his eyes. He tried to avoid the niggling voice in the back of his head that was telling him to find Ran. It was absurd. Everything was okay. They had all come back home safely. He had personally made sure that he saw Ran entering her bedroom to settle in for the night.

Ran was okay, he knew that but he couldn't relax, so he finally gave in to that voice's suggestion and after putting on his glasses, he reached Ran's room. He turned the doorknob slightly, just intending to check in on her, when the door swung fully and there stood Ran in her night clothes.

One look at Conan's haggard face and she knew that he was having a rough night. It was to be expected though. There were so many things a seven year old could handle. So she invited him to her room. He tried to stammer out some excuses so that he wouldn't enter his almost-girlfriend's room at night, he really had planned to just take a look and then go back to sleep, but they all fell on deaf ears. Ran was on mama bear mode and nothing would stop her from soothing the frightened child.

So they settled in. He sat on the swirling chair though. There were lines that his pride and overactive imagination when it came to Ran, wasn't going to let him cross. Ran sat on her bed, happy to let Conan start the conversation. She wouldn't prod him after the scary incidents at the Bell Tree Tower. She trusted that he would speak to her when he felt comfortable enough.

So they sat in comfortable silence. Conan tried to be discreet that he wasn't looking at Ran but he wasn't fooling either of them. She knew that Conan-kun was protective of her so it didn't surprise her when he checked on her but still, she wished he would let her comfort him more. She had heard him scream and was about to go to his room when he, himself opened her door. A child going through these things alone couldn't be safe, could it?

But he always bounced back so she tried to be optimistically cautious. At any sign of trouble, she would intervene but if the situation didn't require her, she was going to let this seven year old do what he wanted within a set of boundaries. Lord knows what would happen if she let him run around wild.

She closed her eyes and lied down on the bed, feeling herself relax for the first time. She hadn't been able to sleep since they had come home and with Conan-kun beside her, she could finally feel how exhausted she was. The sight of Ran lying on her bed didn't help Conan though but he wasn't going to let his seventeen year old hormone riddled brain break the tranquility. Ran was okay. He knew that already but having the confirmation from his own eyes had stopped the niggling voice in his head.

He closed his eyes, feeling fatigue set in and before he knew, he was fast asleep.

 **~oOo~**

Waking up beside Ran was both harrowing and the stuff dreams were made of. But he was going to settle on harrowing. He was a gentleman, after all.

The morning was a usual weekday one. Ran and Conan had classes so they were getting ready in a hurry. Turns out, sleeping late at night makes you late in the morning too. They swallowed down their breakfasts and rushed out the door. Kogoro was busy reading his newspaper, trying to see if any more details were given on the Bell Tree Tower case and heard Ran shout that they were leaving. He grumbled under his breath, telling them to have a good day and kept reading the newspaper.

After he found absolutely nothing new about the case, he settled on his desk. He had some minor cheating cases to attend to but he wasn't feeling up to it. He opened the drawer to find the TV remote when a letter fell down. It was addressed to Ran. Thinking that it must have been about a karate championship or something, he made a point to let Ran know about it. The girl was scarily competitive when it came to karate.

He hummed to himself as the TV came to life and to his luck, Yoko-chan's concert was broadcasting on repeat. He settled in to enjoy his morning. This day was turning out pretty good.

Conan-kun had walked her to her high school. He didn't usually do that. He would go with his friends to the elementary school while she would go with Sonoko, but today he insisted that he come with her. She had a suspicion that it was because of last night but didn't ask him anything. Though she did say, "I should be dropping you off, Conan-kun." But he sweetly said that he wanted to spend more time with his neechan and Ran couldn't help but melt a little. It was true that it took longer to reach Teitan High School. Conan-kun was such a precocious child.

She was a little late to the class, so she couldn't talk to Sonoko as the teacher had already entered. She got a little scolding and then was on her way to her seat. Sonoko questioningly looked at her, asking silently if she was okay and Ran smiled at her. Her face relaxed and the class finally settled down.

"Class, from today, we are going to have a new Mathematics teacher, please welcome Nakamura Kai-sensei."

A man of about thirty years of age entered the classroom. He was strikingly handsome, with his wavy jet black hair parted slightly, glasses on his nose, deep green eyes and six feet one stature. He smiled slightly at the students and the excitement in the room notched up a little.

This was going to be a very tiring day.

* * *

 **A/N: There you have it. Things have started happening. Review and let me know what you thought.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hope you guys like this one. Review to let me know!**

 **All mistakes are mine. Thanks for all the love you've shown to this story.**

* * *

Gin loathed when things didn't go according to what he wanted. And that resulted in a bullet across someone's skull; usually in the skull of someone who was responsible for the screw up.

The Bell Tree Tower incident was an example of one of these times. Irish had become a liability. Better a dead Organization member then a rogue one.

He had not expected to be defeated though. Whoever had escaped from him was a deserving enemy, indeed. He hadn't experienced going against a worthy enemy in a long time. Akai Shuichi's death was a disappointment for him. The man was a threat against the Organization but he kept Gin's life livelier. Getting rid of low level rats was fun but they didn't satisfy him. There was nobody that would match his caliber.

On some level he missed Akai. The game of mouse and cat kept him on his toes. One major regret on his part was that he hadn't killed Akai himself. Kir's situation had been dubious at best. If she had been compromised by the F.B.I. she needed to be taken out. If she hadn't, she needed to prove it. And what better way for her to prove her loyalty than taking out the greatest foe of the Organization, so he had ordered her to shoot Akai in the head. No one survived after getting hit by a high velocity bullet at point blank range. His death was certain.

And that left Gin with a lot of free time. He was itching to kill somebody and the recent failure at the Bell Tree Tower had motivated him. He couldn't wait to find out who he was up against. He couldn't go after that Mouri detective, not after Vermouth had explicitly shown favoritism towards him and going against Vermouth's wishes meant going against the Boss; even though he badly wanted to. No matter, if that detective was suspicious, his name would again pop up and at that time, he would be ready with evidence, so that even Vermouth's testimony couldn't stop him from killing that detective.

Vodka slammed the breaks once they reached the Bell Tree Tower. The place was closed off by the police but that didn't pose a problem. It wasn't Gin's intention to enter the Tower. He just wanted the security tapes. The tapes would be his new foe's undoing and he couldn't wait to meet them face to face for the first time and for his enemy, the last time.

 **~oOo~**

Conan waited outside Teitan High as the students started coming out. The last bell had finally rung and it felt like he had waited for hours when actually, he had just waited ten minutes. In his defense, his paranoia had never been on such a high alert. He could feel it in his bones that something was going to happen.

"Conan-kun!" Ran waved as soon as she saw the boy. She reached him in a few seconds and said, "Did you wait for too long? Sorry, Sensei was giving us our corrected exam sheets."

Ah, right, Ran had a Chemistry exam two weeks ago. It all seemed so surreal. Just two days ago, everything had been fine. Well, 'fine' being a relative term, but it was fine and now, he felt like eyes were following him all the time and that a small mistake would lead to their unraveling.

Conan raised his hand to take Ran's and blushed a little when Ran looked at him questioningly but she smiled at him and tightened her hold. He hadn't meant to do that. He wasn't actually a kid. He didn't need an adult's assurance to calm him down but the sense of security that washed over him after he held her hand countered that logic. And to be honest, it wasn't like every adult could instill that feeling in him, it was just her.

"How did it go, Ran-neechan?" Conan asked as he focused again on their conversation. Ran had already moved on to complaining about how much homework she had to finish. "The test, I mean?" he asked when he saw Ran's slightly confused face.

Ran's face lit up and she proudly announced, "I got 93 marks, Conan-kun. To be fair, the test was easy though, so it's not that big of a deal." She shrugged and then changed the topic of their conversation.

Hah! Not that big of a deal. He had seen what the syllabus was and he could bet that there weren't many students who had fared better than Ran. She was very modest and always had been like that. Ran was one of the top scorers in their grade. It was true that Shinichi would get the highest marks but Ran's name wasn't much behind. She didn't flaunt her intelligence but Shinichi knew how sharp she was. After all, it was Ran who always suspected Conan of being Shinichi when her father was supposed to be the detective. She had always been a diligent student.

They had almost reached the Agency and Conan relaxed a bit. He had concentrated on what Ran was talking about but a part of his mind was on alert, scanning their surroundings whenever Ran looked away from him.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you this, Conan-kun, we got a new Math teacher!" His breath stuck in his throat and his eyes widened. A new teacher? Recent incidents regarding new teachers had not exactly been pleasant in his experience. His heart thumped as they climbed up the stairs. Could it be a coincidence? The Bell Tree Tower case was ongoing. But this was too quick. How could They deploy a new member in a single day? And why Ran's school? Had they figured out? Did They know about Ran's presence in the Tower that night?

He was on the verge of hyperventilating when Ran's worried face entered his vision. "What's wrong, Conan-kun? Do you feel sick?"

He vehemently shook his head no and breathed in. This wasn't the time to panic. He needed to collect more information. Jumping to conclusions would be counterproductive. He put on a childish face and asked innocently, "What's the teacher's name, Ran-neechan? Is he a good teacher?"

Ran's face still looked a bit worried but she let it go. Conan didn't look sick, maybe he was just tired. After all, he hadn't slept well the previous night. She stood up straight and turned to open the door as she answered, "His name's Nakamura Kai and he's an excellent teacher. He taught us Calculus today and he explained it so well. And plus, he is very good looking, so the girls were pretty excited. The boys had Jodie-sensei and now, the girls have Nakamura-sensei."

They entered the office where Kogoro was concentrating hard at a piece of paper in his hand. Ran would have thought it was a case if it weren't for the fact that beer cans were spread on the table and it looked like he hadn't shaved at all. Ran sighed as she declared that they were home. When would her father start acting like a responsible adult?

On the other hand, Conan was trying to not let his overprotective side rear its head. Just because a teacher had come in at such a coincidental time, didn't mean that he was one of the members of the Organization. Teachers transferred schools all the time and Ran had told him how the Mathematics department was understaffed. Everything didn't need to be linked to the Organization but when it came to Ran's well being, no precaution was sufficient enough. He needed to check this Nakamura-sensei out. He wasn't that good at luring out the Organization's member until he knew more about them, so he needed to bring Haibara in. That girl had a sixth sense when it came to recognizing Them. He pulled off his school bag and sat on the couch. Being on high alert drained his tiny body.

Kogoro looked up from the horse racing ticket that he had bought when he heard the door open. Today seemed like a bust. There was no point in listening to the results anymore. He sighed despondently. Why did God never work on his side?

"Seriously, Oto-san, why can you never clean up? What if a client had come, huh?" She scolded him and put the empty beer cans in a trash bag. It was irritating that she had to clean up the office right after she had come from school. She had wanted to relax and then had to come home to this. Jeez, if she wasn't here, these two boys wouldn't make it for a single day. She grumbled under her breath and tied the trash bag.

Conan stood up from the sofa and said in an innocent voice, "Let me help you, Ran-neechan," and took the bag from her, "Why don't you relax? You've had a busy day."

Ran thanked him and smiled as she handed him the bag. The boy was such an angel. She looked at her father and sighed. If only every man she knew was like Conan-kun.

Kogoro was busy sulking and pulled out the drawer to keep his ticket inside. He wasn't going to tear it when Ran was in a mood like this. He would have been suicidal to do that. His eyes landed on the letter and he straightened up, "Oi, Ran. You've got a letter."

"A letter?" Ran asked as she took it from her father.

"Must be about a karate tournament or something."

Ran's brows furrowed. She didn't have a karate tournament for the next few months.

"Ran-neechan, what's that?" Conan asked once he entered the room again and sat beside Ran on the sofa

Ran shrugged as she inspected the envelope. Her name and address were written on the front but there was no return address. Weird. Who could have sent it? Letters addressed by anonymous writers were almost all the time dad's forte. The contents of the letter felt heavy though. She was positive that it wasn't just a piece of paper. She tore the envelope and gasped. There was a video tape inside it. Why would anybody send her a video tape?

There was a piece of paper attached at the top of the tape, on which _Stay safe, Angel_ was written. While Ran wondered who could have sent this and for what purpose, Conan's suspicion got affirmed.

This was sent by Vermouth and if she had contacted them, then They wouldn't be far behind.

* * *

 **A/N: The last few parts took me a lot of pain to write. I didn't know how I should end this chapter. Ugh, this was excruciating. Anyway, review and let me know if you liked it or not!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Time skip ahead! Thank you for taking your time to review, alert, favorite and read this story. Hope you guys like what I plan to do with this story.**

 **All mistakes are mine.**

* * *

 _ **Few weeks later**_

Ran slumped down against the crate, thankful for the reprieve. It hurt to even breathe and she winced as her ribs ached. She was tired. Tired from getting injured. Tired from running away all the time. If she didn't stand her ground and fight, she would always be running away. She would always be getting injured. But heading towards danger without any preparations was just stupid. She needed a weapon; she couldn't go on fighting with her tired body.

The click clack of shoes hitting the floor met her ears and she crouched down, hiding behind the crate so that she wouldn't appear in the persons' vision.

"Come out; come out from wherever you are, Mouri-chan." The voice called out to her.

The world seemed to stand still for a few seconds; Ran stopped breathing, in hopes that the man wouldn't hear her shaky breath. Was it a man? The voice sounded like it belonged to a man but she couldn't be sure. She couldn't be sure of anything now.

There was silence before he said, "Alright, if you want to play, let's bring out one of your friends, huh?" The voice dripped with malice, there was no masking that. Whether this voice belonged to a man or a woman, this person was evil.

A small strangled voice escaped and Ran's heart dropped.

"Ah, let's see who we have here," There was a scuffle between two people, where one's mouth seemed to be shut. Ran concentrated, trying to imagine the scene in her head. There must have been someone she knew in the man's grasp, probably with their mouth held close with a cloth of some kind, if the sound that the person had let out was any indication. Their hands must have been tied too, but why were they not trying to run away? If their legs were tied too, it would make sense that they couldn't escape but it would have been a problem for the man to bring them here; they couldn't walk properly. They would just be a burden. If the man had carried them on the shoulders, they must have tried to escape and struggled but Ran hadn't heard anything of that sort. She hadn't heard anybody else's footsteps other than the man, so that must mean one thing. The captured person's height was small. Small enough to not let their feet drag on the ground if they were being taken away against their will. Small enough to dangle in air.

It was one of the kids.

Ran stood up from her hiding place. She couldn't let a kid die. She wasn't going to be smart with a kid's life in peril. If it would have been an adult or even one of her teenager friends, she could have gambled on her luck but this was an innocent kid. It would be better to do what the man was asking to do.

She locked her jaw, her eyes tightening and walked towards him.

Ai-chan. Ai-chan was in his grasp, both her hands and legs tied with a cloth stuffed in her mouth. She was trying to worm her way out of his clutches. "Ah, ah, Haibara-chan. Or should it be Sherry?" Ai-chan stopped struggling against him and froze. The man took his gun out and held it against her temple. Fury engulfed Ran. How could he do this?

The man smiled at her and for the nth time Ran wondered, how could a person who looked so kind is this kind of a monster?

"Nakamura-sensei." She greeted coldly.

A twisted smile came on his lips and he held Ai-chan tighter to him. Ran balled her fists, ready to punch him the instant he let his guard down. Keeping Ai-chan safe was a priority. Anything else was meaningless.

He walked closer towards her, not relenting his grip on the gun and Ai-chan's eyes grew more and more scared as Nakamura-sensei neared her. Ran wanted to assure her that everything was going to be okay but the words seemed to stick in her throat. She didn't want to lie to Ai-chan.

Nakamura-sensei or whoever he was stopped within a few feet of her and pointed the gun at Ran. The two of them stared each other, not backing down, when he spoke, "Mouri-chan, call me Whiskey."

"I don't care what you are called, let Ai-chan go." She said.

The man tsked and clicked his tongue, he chuckled lowly and said, "I can't do that Mouri-chan, you see your _Ai-chan_ here has been lying to you all this time." Ai-chan struggled against his hold, her screams muffled by the cloth.

Ran shook his allegation off, "It doesn't matter; let her go." She raised her hands, ready to strike him and said, "Release her now."

To her surprise, he did release Ai-chan and she fell to the floor. Ran glared at him, trying to work out if he was going to trick her. The man, Whiskey, held his hands up in a surrender motion and said, "It's alright. You can have her." He smiled coldly at her, "It's not like either of you are going to run away."

Near his feet, Ai-chan's face suddenly twisted in horror. She thrashed on the floor, screaming against her bond, desperately trying to say something when Ran felt a breeze behind her.

Somebody was standing behind her. But how was this possible? She hadn't felt anybody creep behind her. She slowly turned around and at the back of her mind, she could hear Ai-chan's stifled cries, but she was too far gone.

It was the man. The man she had seen at the murder case on Mystery Coaster. The one with long, silver hair and black clothes. She had seen him that day. The day Shinichi vanished. She hadn't seen him up close that day but looking at him now, Ran felt fear. She hadn't been scared of anybody to such a degree but looking at his cold, dead eyes, she felt chilled to the bones.

He stood a few centimeters away from her. A quick check of her surroundings told her that he didn't have any weapon nearby, at least no weapon she could see. Ai-chan was still screaming, Ran could hear it but she couldn't look away from the man's gaze. It was hypnotic, as if, if she looked away for a second, there was no telling what would happen to her, so she didn't She didn't break her gaze and a smile slowly lit up his face.

"She's a good one. I would like to have her." He said in a voice as dead as his eyes.

He broke their stare-off and walked towards Ai-chan, circumventing her. Suddenly, Ai-chan who had been screaming hoarsely went quiet. Ran was so unnerved at this that she somehow got some life into her body and turned to find her.

The silver haired man was crouching on the floor, looking like he was caressing Ai-chan's face. A sick smile was on his face and he said with a hint of excitement, "Sherry, we meet at last." Ai-chan closed her eyes and flinched away from him, trying to escape his hands. A groan left her mouth and Ran snapped out of her stupor.

That Whiskey guy was still there, he had put away his gun though and Ran took her chance. She didn't know how she got the energy. She didn't know what she was going to do. Just the thought of _Get away from Ai-chan_ went through her hand and she was running.

She ran with full speed at Ai-chan, slightly amazed at her speed, maybe the adrenaline was hitting her in full force, and picked her up from the floor and into her arms. From the corner of her eyes, she saw both Whiskey and silver-haired man take out their guns but Ran wasn't stopping.

When she had entered the room, she had made sure it was a good place to hide and if she wanted, she could escape easily as well. She took the route she had planned to use in case of emergency. She ran through the crates, crisscrossing to evade her followers. She could hear their footsteps thumping on the floor. A bullet whizzed past her and Ai-chan let out a noise but she just held Ai-chan more tightly, shielding her with her own body and said, "We'll be fine, Ai-chan. It's all going to be okay."

She could see the door. Freedom was just a few seconds away. She ran like she had never before. Her lungs wheezed. Her claves ached. The wound in her head was throbbing but all of this was secondary. She had to get Ai-chan away from them.

She flew through the door, turning to lock the door and they were out in a deserted hallway. The walls were plain white and the tiles were grey colored. There were doors with biometrics on them. The whole place reeked of a science laboratory. She could hear the sound of machines whirring and buzzing and she walked cautiously; afraid to let Ai-chan down in case they had to run again.

A slight tug on her sleeve made her look down. Ah, Ai-chan was still tied up. She put her down and then took the cloth out from her mouth. The ropes that were tied around her legs and hands were tougher though but she managed to get her out from her bonds.

Ai-chan was trembling and Ran could understand. She must have been so scared. Hell, she was scared too. So she did what came naturally to her. She hugged the little girl in her arms, thankful that she was safe. Ai-chan gripped her shirt tightly, crying silently and they stood still for a moment.

Just then a bang echoed through the hallway and both of them turned to look towards the door they had just escaped through. Thankfully, it was still closed.

"Let's go, Ai-chan." Ran said to the girl in her arms. And she nodded.

They needed to get out of this place but first; she needed to hide somewhere safe. Ran didn't know these people wanted and who they were but she had a feeling that Ai-chan knew. She had reacted when she was called Sherry and those two men seemed to know her.

Whatever. Ai-chan could know everything about them but Ran wouldn't care. There was no way in hell she was going to leave Ai-chan behind to these murdering assholes and the way Ai-chan clung to her; Ran knew that Ai-chan wasn't going to leave her too.

They could handle this together.

* * *

 **A/N: Here it is! Give me your thoughts. Can you tell that I love Ai and Ran together? Hehehe. Man, these two are great. I intend to make full use of them!**


End file.
